Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-22T06:19:50.326Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Changing the Attitudes of Non-Handicapped Children to the Mainstreaming of Hearing Impaired Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Jeff Bailey*
Affiliation:
School of Education, D.D.I.A.E., Toowoomba

Extract

It is interesting to speculate on the concept of decision-making and change in education. A particularly appropriate trend in education which is worthy of careful scrutiny is the concept of ‘mainstreaming’ – a topic of current concern to educators and one which will be mentioned many times, no doubt, during this Conference. Of special concern in this paper is the question of the mainstreaming of hearing impaired children and the attitudes of the non-handicapped peers to the inclusion of deaf children in their class. As a brief preamble to the particular study under question, let us consider the multi-faceted nature of mainstreaming, together with some of the decisions which have to be made about this trend. Reynolds (1976) suggests that mainstreaming is ‘an enlargement of the stream of regular education … to accommodate children who present special needs.’ Clearly, mainstreaming is part of the wider trend of ‘normalization’. In his landmark book, The Futures of Children, Hobbs (1975) says that normalization implies that the handicapped person should be kept as close as possible to his natural setting and that the normal socializing agencies, the family, school and neighbourhood, should be used, rather than special agencies.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, J.G. The Development and Evaluation of a Simulation Course in Mainstreaming. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, 1979.Google Scholar
Bookbinder, S.R. Mainstreaming: What Every Child Needs to Know About Disabilities. Providence, Rhode Island: Rhode Island Easter Seal Society, 1978.Google Scholar
Connor, F.P. The Past is Prologue: Teacher Preparation in Special Education, Exceptional Children, 1976, Vol. 42, pp. 366378.Google Scholar
Emerton, R.G. and Rothman, G. Attitudes towards Deafness: Hearing Students at a Hearing and Deaf College. American Annals of the Deaf, August, 1978, Vol. 123, No. 5, pp. 588593.Google Scholar
Flynn, J.R., Gacka, R.C. and Sundean, D.A. Are Classroom Teachers Prepared for Mainstreaming? Phi Delta Kappan, April, 1978, Vol. 59, No. 8 p. 562.Google Scholar
Gottlieb, J. and Siperstein, G.N. Attitudes Toward Mentally Retarded Persons: Effects of Attitude Referent Specificity. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 1976, Vol. 80, No. 4, pp. 176181.Google Scholar
Hobbs, N. (Ed.) The Futures of Children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1975.Google Scholar
Lazar, A. Unpublished scale. Attitude Toward Handicapped Individuals (ATHI). Department of Educational Psychology, California State University, Long Beach, 1973.Google Scholar
Payne, R. and Murray, C. Principals’ Attitudes Toward Integration of the Handicapped. Exceptional Children, October, 1974, No. 41, pp. 123124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, M.C. (Ed.) Mainstreaming: Origins and Implications. Minnesota Education, 1976, Vol. 2 No. 2.Google Scholar
Superstein, G.N., Bak, J.J. and Gottlieb, J. Effects of Group Discussion on Children’s Attitudes Towards Handicapped Peers. Journal of Educational Research, January/February 1977, Vol. 70 No. 3, pp. 131134.Google Scholar
Weintraub, F.J. Public Policy and the Education of Exceptional Children. Reston, Va.: C.E.C., 1976.Google Scholar